Away With The Flames
by FanGirlFreak16
Summary: Set during 2012 ending of season 2, beginning of season 3, spoilers are inside if you haven't seen the ending of season 2. That night that Leo had been thrown through the window and all hell was broke loose was also the night Casey was separated from Dani, his six year old sister. Now, at the farmhouse, Casey is unaware of his sister's fate and is left wondering if she is alive.
1. Chapter 1

We froze. We couldn't move. How could we? He just lied there. Barely breathing.

If at all.

I could barely bring myself to move to his still body. My little brothers following behind not long after me.

"L-Leo?" I barely croaked. It hadn't done any good, and I hadn't expected it to. He was unresponsive. Unconscious.

"D-Don?" I asked shakily.

"He's alive….barely." He responded.

My eyes were still wide. It took everything in my will not to faint. I'm surprised no one else did. First Splinter, now this?! What's next?

Then again, what can be next? All of New York is being turned into a Kranng world, Splinter's gone, and now my only big brother may be dead or die in the future. Honestly, what could be next? There was nothing that really could be next.

Donnie looked outside the window. There was no point in staying. If we did, April and Casey might get turned into one of those Kranng mutants, and we'll be taken to the Shredder to be killed. What was the point in staying in New York?

"Help me get Leo to the Party Wagon." Donnie told me. I nodded and picked up Leo's legs, and Donnie his upper half. We carried Leo down the stairs of April's apartment and down to the Party Wagon in the alley.

We all piled in, with Casey as the driver. I sat in the back, holding my elder brother as Casey took off.

"Did you find your sister, Casey?" I heard April ask.

"No." He said sadly.

April looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sure she's out there-"

"She's gone, April," Casey sighed. "I couldn't find her back at the apartment."

We all looked at Casey sadly. His sister was all he had left. We all knew what happened. He had told the story countless times. We even had gotten the pleasure of meeting her once.

She wasn't very old; I think about six years of age. Casey and her were orphaned when she was two. Ever since then, Casey had been doing his best at raising her himself; illegally as well. He wasn't eighteen years of age, but he was just a year off.

" _I was thirteen," He told us, "when my parents were killed in front of me. By a stupid shooter in our house!" He had growled as he slammed his fist on the table he was sitting at._

" _They hid me in a closet along with my sister whom I had hidden in the laundry basket next to me. They told me not to leave until the psycho path was gone. I had obeyed them. How stupid I was. My mom hid in a closet while my father stood in the middle of the room, with a shotgun in hand. Soon, the man found us in the room. My father shot at the man, but he shot first, and my father fell to the floor, a bullet engraved in his chest. My mother cried out and grabbed the shotgun in fear of the maniac finding us. She shot at him, but the same thing happened. Tears had run down my face as I held a hand against the door of the closet made of wood with slits. I could see the entire thing!" He had cried in pain and frustration._

" _I had to hold my remaining hand to my mouth to make sure no sobs escaped my throat. And when he left I had fallen next to their corpses, screaming at the ceiling, cursing the damn bastard who hurt my family. But just as I had, a faint, fragile cry came from the laundry basket. I had forgotten about her the entire time. I immediately stood up on my feet and ran to the laundry basket. I took off the clothes that had been hiding her from sight, and I held her in my arms. 'Sh,' I had said, 'no one's going to hurt you now. Everything will be fine.' From that day on I vowed to protect Daniella. And I won't break that promise."_

"I guess I broke that promise now, didn't I?" Casey muttered to himself, tears pooling around his eyes.

"No, Case, ya didn't break that promise. You're human. You make mistakes."

"Well, this was the one mistake that I wasn't supposed to make, Raph!" He yelled at me. Normally I would get defensive at such a yell, but I knew he was in pain.

"Casey," I started, "I know you're feeling broken right now. I know you feel like you failed, but the thing is, once we get everyone unmutated, you'll get Dani back. She'll be safe and in your arms once more."

Casey sighed as he continued to drive. "I hope you're right, Raph."

"Not to break topic or anything, but where are we going to go now? All of New York is infected." Mikey stated sadly as he looked at Leo, who was still cradled in my arms.

Casey sighed. "There is the old farm house that my sister and I used to visit. We could go there."

Donnie sighed in little relief. "Thanks, Casey. And you will get Dani back. I promise."

Casey just sighed. I could tell he longed to see the image of his beautiful little sister. Her long blonde braids, her brown eyes, the gaps in her teeth from her losing them and growing adult ones.

"What're we going to do about Leo?" I asked Donnie.

Donnie sighed. "Hope, pray. I could do whatever I can to help him, but there isn't really much."

I sighed and patted Donnie on the shell. "You do whatever you can, Don."

Donnie nodded, but looked out the window. He didn't know what they were going to do. None of us did.

 **Casey POV:**

It took about an hour, but soon we all pulled up into the driveway of the farmhouse. Raph and Donnie took Leo out of the back of the Party Wagon and carried him to the bathroom where they placed him in the bathtub.

Mikey could barely look, and I threw an arm around his shoulders to provide what little comfort I could. Mikey made me feel like I had a little brother as well.

I sure as hell felt like all of them were my little brothers. Especially Donnie with him being a huge pain in my ass. But he means well. And I get him having a huge crush on April. He's a mutant and may never have a chance at love. If April would just make up her damn mind Donnie wouldn't get hurt constantly.

Honestly, rejection by April wouldn't really hurt me. I've been rejected plenty of times in my life. Now, Donnie? He'd be devastated. And though I'd never admit it, he's like the nerdy little brother I've never had, and it pains me to see him hurt.

Yeah, sure, I fight with him and call him names, but as a big brother that is my job.

Mikey looked into my eyes. "You miss Dani, don't you?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I do, Mike. She's my baby sister, and I know you miss her, too."

Mikey sighed. "Yeah. We've lost so many people in one day. First, Splinter, then Dani, now maybe Leo. It all just seems like a bad dream."

"It is, Mikey. It's a bad dream that we can't wake up from. A nightmare if you will. A nightmare called life."

Mikey sighed as he walked away from me and into the farmhouse. I sighed and followed him in, though I didn't want to feel confined in the walls of that house. As soon as I stood on the porch I heard the creaks and moans of the old house. The door had been left open by the others.

I didn't exactly want to go in, so I changed my mind and stepped off of the porch, more creaks and groans being heard. I heard a roll of thunder, but I paid no mind to it. Right now, I just knew that I couldn't be confined in walls.

Yeah, I was worried about Leo. I'm older than Leo as well. He's another of my little brothers. But right now, I needed to deal with the abduction of my sister. I could barely deal with it. I missed her like crazy, and I had no idea where she was. We had been separated during the invasion.

Another roll of thunder came by and lightning flashed. I felt a rain drop fall against my nose. Then my cheek, then my head. And soon the rain came down harder and harder. I acted like I didn't acknowledge it, however. I didn't really care that I was getting soaked.

The rain had never really bothered me. You learn how to deal with it when you have to scavenge for yourself and a two year old child, and not be too suspicious looking so that you're not put into an orphanage.

I'd often have to go out during hard rains, snow blizzards, and high winds. Winds high enough to blow me off of the face of the Earth.

I take in my new surroundings. Huh, I didn't notice that I had wandered into the woods. And in front of me is a pond. I take a rock and throw it against the pond, the rock skipping with a fine beat.

It wasn't fair that she was taken away! She's six.

"Watcha doin' out here, Jones?"

I turned around when I heard the sound of the familiar gruff voice. There stood Raphael, with an umbrella in hand. I turned back towards the pond.

"What're you doing out here, Raph?"

He growled slightly. "I should be asking you that. April told me this is where you'd be."

"I'm not going back to that house right now. I will not be confined in those walls." I said.

"You're gonna get sick, Jones. Quit being stubborn and get your ass to the house."

I could feel myself growling slightly. My black bangs fell in my eyes, the rain causing them to droop from being drenched in rain. Kind of like what your hair does when you enter the shower. I licked the inside of my gap, a habit I've picked up when I get mad.

"C'mon, Jones, in the house." He urged, getting ticked and cold, considering he is cold blooded.

"Raph, I can't not yet. You should go in. You're cold. The rain doesn't really bother me."

Raph growled. Yeah, he was pissed. "You've gotta get over your sister, man! Quit feeling sorry for yourself! She's one of those mutant things, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

I growled back. "She's six years old, Raph! She could die! She may be getting tested on! She may die!"

"And it pains me that she may, but you have to get over it! You can't just stay outside and brood over her!"

"Raph, I vowed that I would keep her safe from everything! And I broke that vow!"

"Yeah, well, you didn't lose your dad from this!"

My eyes widen, my parents' corpses flashing in my mind. I narrow my eyes. "Go, Raph."

His eyes had widened once he figured out what he had said. "C-Casey, I'm sorry-"

"I said go, Raphael!" I yell forcefully.

He sighed. He knew he screwed up. I hated it when anyone mentioned my parents. They had been fools thinking they could take that psycho path. They had been fools for not allowing me to help.

They had been fools to get killed while Dani was a baby.

"I'm sorry, Casey." I allowed him to finish a single sentence.

I sighed. "Look man, I'm sorry about Splinter and Leo. I really am. But Dani, she's all I got left, man. If the Kranng decided to test on her instead of transform her, what am I going to do? She's all I've got left, Raph. She's it." I felt tears prickling my eyes. I couldn't cry now! Not in front of Raph, heaven forbid! He'd never let me live it down.

But then he did the last thing I ever thought he would. He wrapped his arms around me. Almost like I was a part of his family.

"Casey, you're never going to be alone. As long as my family is standing you are a part of it. And that includes Dani as well. As long as my family is standing on at least one leg you both will always have a place to go. And if she's gone, heaven forbid, you are always going to be a part of the Hamato family. I can assure you that."

I could feel tears slipping from my eyes. I could hear my sister's voice in my head. Just echoing. Her blonde braids were haunting me as well as her brown eyes. I had taken care of her for four years. Almost five.

I had to find her. I knew I did. But right now the task at hand was making sure Leo survived the night. "I'm sorry, Raph, for acting like this."

"Don't apologize, Jones. You miss your baby sister. I miss my big brother. I get it. Your baby sister could be hurt or worse, and my big brother may not survive the night. All we can do is hope and pray." Raph told me.

I sniffed lightly and pulled back gently. "Yeah, you're right, Raph."

He smirked at me. "I always am."

I rolled my eyes playfully and shoved him against the plastron. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, rub it in my face."

Raph smiled gently as he lifted the umbrella above my head, and we ran back into the farmhouse. April smiled at us gently as we entered the house.

"I see you got him back."

Raph smiled. "Yeah, it took a bit, but I got him back up here."

I sighed. "How's Leo?"

April sighed and lead us upstairs into the biggest bathroom. There was another bathroom downstairs with a standing shower and a toilet and sink. That's the bathroom we'd have to use for the time being while Leo healed.

Our eyes fell on an unconscious Leo who lied in the full bathtub. His ocean blue eyes were shut and his breathing was shallow. I guessed that they put him in water so that his temperature is always in control.

Raph's emerald green eyes fell once he saw the condition of his elder brother. I could tell he was sad. Sad. Scared. Hurt. Self-blaming. Just like any other great brother would do.

He walked over to his brother sadly and dipped his hand in the water. He dragged the water with his hand and gently placed some water on his shell. The scene was heart wrenching. We all were terrified for Leo. We wanted Leo to jump up from the tub saying that this was just a cruel prank that Mikey had put him up to, but they knew that he would do nothing of the sort.

"Do you want to be alone, Raph?" I asked gently. He nodded in response, and April and I respectfully left the bathroom. Once we reached the hallway I sighed. I leaned against the wall and felt something weird in my back pocket. I reached into my back pocket and was stunned to find my wallet. I opened it up, praying that the photo was still there. My eyes lit up slightly. There it was. My little sister's face staring back me. Her brown eyes staring back at me with a happy glimmer, her blonde braids lying against her shoulders, her gaps in her teeth not faltering her smile. It was her first picture taken on the first day of kindergarten.

I couldn't stop from smiling. I had had enough money to send her to school. The picture wasn't more than two months old. The money had been in the family bank for a while. I barely took money out of the bank for food so that she could have money for school. Donnie told me that if we were ever to run out of money that he could teach her. I gladly accepted his offer.

Suddenly my mind went to when we had gotten separated.

 _Dani had been sitting on the couch with Mikey, playing video games while I watched Raph beat against a punching bag._

" _The kids a riot," Raph was telling me. "I mean, she practically hangs out with all of us. Is there anything that that child doesn't find interesting."_

 _I chuckled. My little sister was a jack of all trades. But all happy times can't last forever._

 _April brought Irma down and it all went from there. Irma turned out to be Kranng Sub-Prime, and that's when all of the Kranng droids came into the lair. The strong ones, the weak ones, tons of them. I fought them off as best as I could after I hid Dani under a table._

 _But they found her. Two Kranng droids held her by the arms and took her to Sub-Prime._

" _What does Kranng wish to do with the human, the turtles and the humans called April and Casey, call Dani?"_

 _Sub-Prime looked at her. "Take her back to the Techno Drome. She may be of use to Kranng."_

" _No, leave her alone!" I yelled as I began to smash droids left and right._

" _Casey, help me, please!" She yelled as the Kranng droids began to take her away from me._

" _Dani!" I yelled. And then came the fire. The fire spread and practically destroyed the lair. I tried to run through it, receiving a few burns in the process, but when I reached the other side of the fire, ruble was piled up making it impossible for me to reach the other side. "Dani!" I screamed as I pounded on the ruble and reached my hand out of a small opening in the ruble, as if if I did so she'd fly into my hand._

" _Casey!" She screamed my name, reaching her arm out to me, but the flames swallowed her and the droids up._

 _I shook my head in denial as I pounded against the ruble. "No! No, no, no, no, no!"_

" _Casey, we've gotta go!" Coughed Raphael as he attempted to pull me away from the ruble._

" _They took my sister, Raphael! I can't leave without her!" I yelled as I pounded on the ruble some more. Raph grabbed my arm, trying to get me away._

" _Casey, if you don't come now, we're all going to die!"  
_

 _I pounded my fists against the ruble and then glared at him as tears streaked down my face. "She's my sister, Raph! She's all I have left!"_

 _Raph looked at me sadly. "I know, Casey! I know she's your sister! But if we don't go now, you will never have the chance to see your sister again!"_

 _I sighed, knowing he was right. I nodded and we took off out of the lair. Only to end up where we are now._

I sighed as I stared at the photo. She was gone. To ever return? Maybe. But as of now, I had no idea where she was.

Or if she even made it out of the fire.

With that torturous thought in mind I walk to my bedroom as thunder rolled loudly outside. I open the door to the bleak room as the rain poured down on the window by the bed with a hard _pitter patter_. I don't bother to flip the light on as I flop down on the bed, soaking wet clothes and all.

I look up at the ceiling as I lie my hands against my stomach. It felt a bit empty. My sister and I shared a room in case anyone had tried to break into our house. Well, I couldn't necessarily call it a house. There was an abandoned apartment that no one ever looked in or dared to enter. That's where she and I lived.

I look out the window and watched as the rain came down harder. There was no point in staying up. As long as Leo was stable there was nothing else we could do or help out with. I turned onto my right side on my bed, facing the wall. Within ten minutes I fell asleep.

" _Casey, I'm scared!"  
_

" _Don't be, Dani, it's quite simple really. Just shuffle a bit," I told her as I stood a few feet away from her on the ice. She looked down at her feet as she began to shuffle carefully. She almost slipped, but I was there to steady her. "I won't let you fall, Dani."  
_

 _She looked up at me then back down to her feet. "I'm scared, Casey!"  
_

" _Just calm down, Dani. You can do it. I believe in you!" She took in a shaky breath as she slowly began to shuffle closer to me. I smiled at her. "That's it, Dani. You've got it!"_

 _She took a bit of a bigger step and began to fall. I quickly swooped in and scooped her up. "I told you I wasn't going to let you fall." I told her as I held her in my arms and skated around the rink._

" _Spin me, Casey!" She giggled. I smiled as I brought her to my chest and spun in a circle she giggled and squealed. "I love you Casey!"_

I sat up right in my bed in a cold sweat. That happened when she was five. I had tried to teach her how to skate. I sighed. Well, skating would have to be postponed until I could find her. I looked to the digital clock on the nightstand.

 _2:02am_

I had barely slept two hours so far. I sighed as I stood from my bed and sat on at the bay window seat. I watched wearily as the rain poured and pounded against the grass below and the window in front of me. Not once had the rain lit up.

I leaned my head against the glass, my still damp bangs falling into my eyes. I heard a soft knock at my door and then the creaking of it opening. I hadn't turned my head to meet the intruder, but I knew who it was when their skinny arms wrapped around my, larger in comparison, frame.

"We'll find Dani, I promise." April said gently.

I sighed. "How do you know? For all I know she could have been burnt alive by that stupid fire."

"But we don't know that she did."

"We'll, we don't know that she didn't either."

She sighed as my head continued to press against the glass. "Don't give up hope, Casey. She's probably still out there, waiting for you to come get her."

I sighed. "I hope you're right."

 **So should I continue this, or leave it as is? I had originally thought to make this a one-shot, but I think I could make a few more chapters out of this. Did you like it, love it, hate it? Let me know. Your opinion matters. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

I had fallen back asleep at around 2:32am, and I woke up at around 7:00am. When I awoke the rain was still pounding against every window of the farmhouse. I groaned when I awoke, memories of the day before flooding into my mind.

Was there any hope my sister was even still alive? I didn't think so. What if she hated me now? I failed to save her. That was evident. I stood from my bed, and stripped from the clothes I wore yesterday. I put on some clothes that I had here already from when my sister and I come up here. I offered April some of my mother's clothing and she gladly accepted.

When clothed, I stepped into the hallway and walked down the hallway and down the stairs. There on the couch was Donnie and Mikey passed out, cuddling next to each other. I couldn't suppress the smile that plastered my face. I took out a blanket from the closet and threw it gently over the two. I laughed gently when Mikey snuggled under it.

The kid was a child at heart. I never did understand how someone good be at the age of fifteen and still be as pure as a toddler. I admired Mikey for it. I'd love to be as innocent as he is. But the kid's seen some tough stuff. His own father being flushed down a sewer drain, never to be seen again. Or maybe we'd find him again? I don't know, ok! Right now I could barely deal with the pressure of my baby sister being taken from me. How was I supposed to deal with that? The baby sister that I had vowed to protect with my life. Gone.

I clenched my teeth together and my eyes. Tears slowly made their way down my face. Funny how a traumatic event can make you see parts of yourself that you never even knew you had.

I sobbed gently, not loud enough to wake the others. Suddenly I darted out of the house, back into the freezing cold rain. I ran back into the woods and fell to my knees near the pond. How much more of this was I supposed to be able to take? How much longer until I turned insane?

I sobbed gently, my shoulders wracking with each shaky breath. The rain only seemed to emphasize how sorrowful I really was at that moment. I wanted to scream and cry in agony, but I didn't dare in case anyone was nearby. I had four brothers back in that house who couldn't be seen by any humans unless they wanted to be taken away for experiments in government labs.

I heard the noise of crunching leaves behind me, and I whipped my tear stained face back around to see the person who had followed me out. I cursed under my breath. Of course it had to be him.

The one who thinks I hate him.

"What're you doing out here?" He asked me.

I sniffed and wiped my nose against my sleeve, my brown eyes giving off a more hopeless look than what I would have approved with. "None of your business, Donatello."

He did a double take at my expression. It was so very rare to catch me crying. "Casey? What's wrong?"

"None of your business!" I snapped at him as I wiped my eyes dry, only for them to be drenched in tears once more.

He was obviously taken aback due to my behavior. Sure, on a regular basis I do act like a jerk. Yeah, underline the word act. "Casey, why are you crying?"

I growled. "Why do you care?"

I never got defensive like that though. It was odd. Crying and a defensive side that almost never comes out. Those were big red flags, saying that I was upset.

"Casey, of course I care if you're upset. I mean, sure, you're a pain, but I don't want to see you upset." Yeah, that's how brothers act, or just siblings in plain general. Though Dani and I never really had the time to get ticked off at each other. And I'm afraid to say that I feel like I've become more of her parent than her brother. I'd rather be her brother.

"Just leave me alone, bro." The nickname flew past my lips. I bit my lip hard, drawing a bit of blood. The metallic taste filled my mouth as Donatello processed what I had said.

"Did you just call me 'bro'?"

"So what if I did?!"

Donnie sat on a log next to me, where I sat on the ground on my knees. "Is that what you think of my brothers and me? Do you think of us as brothers?"

"Aw, man, so what if I do? You gonna hate me even more for it?"

"What? I don't hate you."

"Well, you sure don't like me!"

Donnie stumbled for his next set of words. "That's not true. I do like you, Casey. We just fight a lot. Kind of like Leo and Raph, almost."

"We're nothing like Leo and Raph! Unlike those two, you and I are not brothers no matter my thoughts or yours!" I snapped at him, tears never stopping from cascading down my face.

Donnie's eyes were wide with shock. He hadn't expected such emotion from Raphael's equally ill-tempered friend. "Casey, I don't get where this is all coming from."

I sighed. "You wouldn't. You guys may have had a rough past, not having enough food, or fearing being seen by others. But my sister and I, we hadn't enough food either. We weren't allowed to be seen by adults or else we would have been split up in an orphanage. You guys had family. My sister and I had each other. If I go down, then she'd die if not taken to an orphanage. If she goes down, then I would barely be functional anymore."

Donnie shook his head, not knowing what to say. "Casey, I'm sorry."

I sighed. "Don't be. You guys did have it hard and I'm selfish for bringing up my own problems when you guys could have been taken to a lab and experimented on. If we were found, we could have been separated."

"And if you were put into an orphanage, you both could be abused right now. Not all adoptive families are nice."

"Why do you think I didn't want Dani and myself stuck in one of those darn orphanages?"

"Separation, fear of abuse, neglect, being alone."

"All right on the nose, genius." I stated.

Donnie sighed. "I'm sorry, Casey, I didn't know."

I sighed. "Don't be. You knew that we had it hard, you just didn't know how," I looked up to the early morning sky as the rain continued to rage on. "You don't even know that Casey isn't my real name."

Donnie looked at me with sheer curiosity. "Your real name isn't Casey?"

I shook my head.

"What is it then?" He asked quizzically.

We were now sitting on a log in front of the pond. I watched as the pounding rain hit against the calm pond, creating ripples that spread off in different directions. "You'll laugh. I know you. If something isn't intelligent, you laugh at it."

"Is that really how you think I am?" Donnie asked, never peeling his eyes away from the rippling pond.

I scoffed slightly. "It's how it seems. You wave your intelligence around all the time, making all of us feel inferior. Yeah, I'm aware that I'll never be as intelligent as you. I don't need you to remind me that every day I wake up. Especially when I have a child who is dependent on me."

Donnie's eyes softened. "I didn't know that's how you felt. I'm sorry, Casey."

I shook my head as I grabbed a stone and threw it across the water, causing it to skip over the rippling water. "It doesn't matter. I've gone years hiding my feelings so I don't either hurt or freak Dani out." I avert my eyes to the sky, allowing drops of rain to hit my brown eyes.

I heard Donnie sigh. Maybe, just now, he realized I'm not the air head he thinks I may be. "I'm sorry, Casey."

I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling the rain drops fall against my skin, thunder rolling around us and lightning clapping across the sky, breaking it in two. "Arnold."

"What?" Donnie asked.

I turned my gaze to his reddish-brown orbs. "My name is Arnold. I changed my name to Casey, though. Don't ever call me Arnold, ya hear me?!"

He looked into my chocolate brown eyes. "I hear you. So I guess I can't tell anyone either?"

I growled. "You've got it buster!"

We had to go in after about thirty minutes or so. I tried to force him to go in sooner so he wouldn't get sick, but he didn't listen. I didn't really expect him to, either.

I tried arguing with him, but he kept his calm and stayed put. After a half an hour I had given in and went back to the farmhouse. Donnie had seemed relieved when I had and quickly followed. No doubt the fifteen year old was freezing. He was freaking cold blooded.

Which I guess kind of made me feel a bit guilty for not coming in sooner. He could have gotten sick, and then that would just make matters worse. If it was one thing everyone knew, it was that Donatello had the _weakest_ immune system known to man. And the _last_ thing we needed was the one person who could possibly fix Leo to get sick.

"Any signs of him waking up?" I ask as I enter the bathroom, watching as Donnie laid a finger against Leo's wrist, checking for any sort of pulse.

Donnie sighed. "No, none yet. His heart seems fine as well as his lungs, it's just he had lost so much blood, and even with the blood transfusion, I don't know how long it will take for him to wake up. Or," Donnie paused, "if he'll wake up at all."

"He will," I said confidently. "I know he will."

"I wish I could say the same." Donnie said brokenly. I sighed slightly. There was nothing more I could do there. Not that I could think of, anyways. I wasn't super smart like Donnie, and I didn't have that special brother connection that the rest of them all had.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway. It was still so early. And the rain continued to strike at the roof and windows. It made everything seem so calm.

Well, calmer than what everything actually was. I looked over the railing of the stairs down to the living room. I smirked lightly. Yep. There was Mikey. Still curled up on the couch, not a snore protruding from his mouth.

He was normally a very silent sleeper, and a heavy one at that. The storm that continued to scream outside proved that to be true. Well, Donnie and I were the only ones awake, the rest being asleep, but I was normally a fairly heavy sleeper.

Well, I wasn't today.

I allowed a frown to fall against my face once more as I moved back from the railing, not wanting to watch Mikey sleep anymore. I walked once again back to my room, passing Raphael's and Red's.

I chuckled lightly when I heard the loud, booming snores coming from Raph's room. Obviously, he was a much louder sleeper than Mikey, but he was just as sound a sleeper. I shook my head as I passed April's. Her room was so silent. If I hadn't known better, I could have easily mistaken the room for being unoccupied.

As I approached my room I suddenly stopped. What did my room have to offer? Isolation. Silence. Bleakness. The only sound running throughout the entire farm house was the booming snores coming from Raph's room and the booming rain with its companion of screaming thunder and flashing of lightning.

Did I really want to be confined to that? No. Not really. But where else could I possibly go? I mean, this wasn't NYC. There was nowhere to go. And especially since it was so early in the morning still.

I sighed.

Where could I go? What could I do? I wasn't trained by Splinter like April and the turtles had been. Therefore, I couldn't meditate. I had found no need for it.

Now, I was resenting my stubbornness at the simple, calming, process. If I hadn't been so stubborn, this may had been a time to connect to my baby sister, but no. I'm too stubborn for my own good.

" _Oh, no, I'm good. I don't need to learn how to meditate."_

Bull crap.

Right now, that's all that I felt I had needed. But no. I'm too stubborn and proud to actually admit that I may need to be taught a few things. I growled quietly. So many kids at school had already told me that, but only now I was starting to listen.

 _I ran through the streets of New York, cradling my baby sister in my arms. She was sick. Very sick. I didn't have the money to take her to a hospital or a doctor, and they would surely ask for a guardian's signature._

 _She panted and sweated in my arms, whimpering like a scared puppy._

" _C-Casey," She whispered, "I'm…s-scared."_

" _Don't be," I cooed gently as I made my way to the sewer. "I know someone who can fix you right up."_

 _Yeah, maybe Donnie was a scientist, not a doctor, and maybe he and I weren't on great terms, but surely he wouldn't let a four year old die. He wasn't evil, he just didn't like me._

 _But, Lord, don't let our differences get in between him and my sister, I prayed._

 _Running through the familiar sewers, the water sloshed up, hitting my knees each time I took a step. I remembered, then, how unsanitary the sewers were. I shook my head._

 _This was the only chance she had left._

 _I ran into the lair, Leo was watching Space Heroes, Mikey was playing on the pinball machine, and Raph was beating on the practice dummy. I couldn't see Donnie so my only guess was that he was in his lab._

 _My presence hadn't yet been acknowledged, but, rest assure, it was when I yelled._

" _Guys, help! My sister…she…please!" My plead sounded so broken. I hadn't realized that until the words had left my lips._

 _Immediately, eyes flew to me and the sweating bundle in my arms. Raph ran up immediately, Leo following, and soon Mikey. Donnie must not have heard._

" _Mikey, go get Donnie." I could hear Leo say quietly. Mikey gave a silent nod before running towards the lab._

" _Is this Dani?" I heard Raph ask._

 _I nodded. "Yes, she…she got sick a while back, but…I…I didn't think it would get this bad."_

" _Don't worry," Leo said softly, "Donnie can help her."_

" _I'm so sorry," I said desperately, "I don't normally ask for help, but this is all I want. I just want my sister to be ok. I won't ask for anything from you guys again, just…please…help her."_

 _Raph placed a hand on my shoulder. "We're going to help her," He told me. "We're going to do whatever we can to help her."_

" _Thank you." I said timidly. Now, this was a new occurrence. Casey Jones seeming weak. Well, at the moment, I hadn't cared. I was just concerned for my sister._

" _What's wrong?" I heard Donnie ask as he ran to us. "All Mikey was able to tell me was that someone was sick. Who's sick?"_

 _I stepped up, showing him the panting, sweating, crying, bundle in my arms. "Please, Donnie, help her. I…I didn't know what to do. I…I don't care what you want in turn, all I know is I'll get it to you, even if I have to fight the Shredder myself, just…please help my sister."_

 _He gasped lightly at seeing my little sister. He gently slid her into his arms, brushing away some sweat from her forehead. "I'll do what I can." He said before hurrying to his lab to make sure she was ok._

" _We don't want anything, ya dork." Raph said, subtle sympathy just barely noticeable in his voice._

 _I shake my head, looking away from them. I couldn't say anything. What could I say? I had already ruined my reputation around them by acting the way I did, but I couldn't control it._

" _How old is she?" Mikey asked._

 _I sighed. "Four."_

" _Four?"_

" _Yes, four."_

" _That's not very old."_

" _No, Mikey, it's not."_

 _I could feel Raph leading me to the couch, sitting me down on the cushions. "Why don't you tell us what happened from the beginning?" Leo asked._

 _I sighed, rubbing my hands together. "Well, it started a few days ago. She had a small cold, I thought that it wasn't all that serious. Then it became slightly more serious, she had a higher fever, and she threw up a little. I gave her a little ibuprofen I've been saving ever since she was a baby. She didn't get like that until tonight. I put her to bed at around nine o'clock. I tried putting the heat lamp near her to help offer a bit more heat, but it didn't help much. I woke up to hear her strangled breathing, and here we are now."_

" _Wait, did you say 'heat lamp'?" Leo asked._

 _I nodded. "Yeah. That's the only major heat source we have. I mean, we have a thin blanket, but she uses that."_

" _You must get cold at night."_

" _Oh, believe me, Mikey, I do. But I don't mind. I live on the ice, so a little cold isn't going to bring down old Casey Jones."_

 _Leo looked thoughtful for a bit. "Y'know, you both could live down here. Master Splinter wouldn't mind."_

 _My eyes widened, but they didn't see. Raph slung his arm around my shoulders. "Yeah, Case, why don't you both live down here?"_

" _No."_

" _No?"_

" _No."_

" _And why not?"_

" _I'm not used to getting help, and I'm not going to get used to it now."_

" _Ugh," Raph groaned, "you're so freaking stubborn, Jones. Y'know that?"_

" _So what?" I ask, becoming slightly defensive._

" _So what?" Raph growled, poking me in the chest with his finger. "So what is that you're going to get your sister killed."_

 _I paled, but my stance still stood. "I've made it this far, I can go longer."_

"But can Dani?"

" _Don't bring her into this!"  
_

" _Why not?! Because you know I'm right?!"_

" _Raph." Leo warned._

 _Raph growled dangerously. "No, Leo. He needs to know what he's doing to his sister."_

" _Shut up, Raph!" I yelled, punching him in his mouth. He was appalled, and so was I. But I acted like I wasn't. "I've been trying my fucking hardest! Ok?! I'm trying! But you wouldn't know what living alone, and looking for food just for your younger sibling! You've always had a parent that tried his hardest to get all of your food! You wouldn't know the burden of being responsible for everything that happens! And, yes, you've never had an easy life, but you don't have to provide food, education, and clothes to your siblings!" I yelled._

 _Everyone was shocked. So was I. I had never meant to blow up like that. I breathed in and out, deep hissing breaths, not realizing that my teeth were bared together._

 _No one spoke. No one knew what to say. And neither did I. Sorry would have been a great start, but apologizing wasn't my strong suit._

" _Casey," I heard from behind. I whirled around to see Donnie exiting his lab, "your sister is stable. You can go see her."_

 _I nodded to him, mumbling a quick thanks, before entering the lab, my eyes landing on my sleeping baby sister. Her sweating had gone down, and her breathing had settled out._

 _I rubbed her hand gently. "I'll protect you from anything and everything. I promise."_

Shit.

I broke that promise.

Probably millions of times.

I slapped my hand against my head. I'm so foolish! I growled. Not anymore. I walk to my room, shutting the door behind me, locking it. I walk to my hockey bag that contained my hockey gear, such as, hockey sticks, pucks, and pads. But those weren't the gear I was looking for.

No, I was looking for something way at the bottom of the bag. A weapon I never showed anyone. Ever.

A knife.

I smile at it as it shimmers in the light of my ceiling light. Dani had given it to me as a gift one year, saying she got it from a secret Santa thing at school. Weird how they'd have such things at a school for gifts.

I take one of my hockey sticks out and begin dragging the knife blade against it, sharpening the silver blade.

"I'll find you, Dani." I said quietly.

I continue to sharpen it until my hockey stick is all gone. For precision, I throw the knife at the wall, it's silver blade cutting right into the barrier, embedding itself into it.

I smirked lightly. "One way or another."

 **Did you like it, love it, hate it? Let me know. Your opinion matters. :)**


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